Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag is a primal talent whose rough edges make him all the more appealing. By the time he had scored his first centuries in one-day cricket (off 70 balls, against New Zealand) and Test cricket (on debut, against South Africa, from 68 for 4), he was already eliciting comparisons with his idol Sachin Tendulkar. It is half true. Like Tendulkar, he is short and square with curly hair, plays the straight drive, backfoot punch and whip off the hips identically, but leaves Tendulkar in the shade when it comes to audacity. Asked to open the innings in Tests on the tour of England in 2002, Sehwag proved an instant hit, cracking an 80 and a 100 in the first two matches. Regularly thereafter, he kept conjuring pivotal innings at the top of the order, none as significant as India's first 300 (which he bought up, characteristically, with a six), at Multan against Pakistan in early 2004. Sehwag bowls effective, loopy offspin, and is a reliable catcher in the slips. He also once almost split the cricket world: when he was banned for a match by the ICC referee Mike Denness on grounds of excessive appealing, the Indian board wasn't prepared to listen, and even played an unofficial Test with South Africa to prove a point. When a compromise was finally reached, Sehwag was back to his merry ways

Full name	Virender Sehwag
Born	October 20, 1978, Delhi
Major teams	India, ACC Asian XI, Delhi, ICC World XI, Leicestershire
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling style	Right-arm offbreak

Career statistics
Test debut	South Africa v India at Bloemfontein - Nov 3-6, 2001
ODI debut	India v Pakistan at Chandigarh - Apr 1, 1999
First-class span	1997/98 - 2005/06
List A span	1997/98 - 2005/06

Virender Sehwag, Asian Hero!

Virender Sehwag was featured as an Asian hero by Time magazine Asia issue dated April 28, 2003.

World records and feats